The rising trend in company bankruptcies in Germany continues. In the first three months of the current year, 5,209 companies filed for bankruptcy, the Federal Statistical Office announced on Friday. That was a good quarter (26.5 percent) more than in the same quarter last year.
The value for the first quarter of 2020 was also exceeded: by 11.2 percent. That was the quarter before the Corona crisis, which was characterized by special regulations and had comparatively low insolvency figures.
The trend continues upward: In May 2024, 25.9 percent more regular insolvencies were filed than a year earlier. Since June 2023, double-digit growth rates have been observed consistently compared to the previous year, the Wiesbaden statisticians said.
The proceedings are only included in the statistics after the first decision of the insolvency court. In many cases, the actual time of the insolvency application is almost three months earlier.
Experts expect the number of corporate insolvencies in Germany to rise to around 20,000 cases this year. Weakened by the Corona years, high energy prices and rising interest rates, more and more companies in Germany are getting into trouble. In addition, exemptions with which the state had tried to avert a wave of bankruptcies during the pandemic have expired.
The Federal Statistical Office had counted 17,814 company bankruptcies for 2023. Despite an increase of a good fifth, this was a comparatively low figure in a long-term comparison: In 2009, during the financial and economic crisis, almost 33,000 companies in this country had slipped into insolvency.
